ESPN host apologizes to Grizzlies' Ja Morant for running fake quote about Michael Jordan

Scott Rafferty

ESPN host apologizes to Grizzlies' Ja Morant for running fake quote about Michael Jordan image

On Monday, ESPN ran a segment centered around Ja Morant saying Michael Jordan would've been "just another superstar" in today's NBA.

The problem: Morant never actually said it.

While Morant did say that in a recent interview with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks that he would've "cooked" Jordan, the quote ESPN used came from Ballsack Sports, a satirical Twitter account that has close to 200,000 followers.

The tweet in question has over 1,700 retweets and 24,000 likes at the time of publishing.

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It didn't take long for the segment to go viral. That led to Rooks sharing the video on Twitter, tagging ESPN, and confirming that Morant did not say Jordan would be "just another superstar." She also said there should be a correction issued.

Morant also caught wind of it. His response?

ESPN's David Jacoby, who was the host of the segment, responded to Rooks directly and apologized to both her and Morant.

This isn't the first time Ballsack Sports has duped a company as big as ESPN with one of its fake quotes. Time will tell if it's the last.

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.